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Acromantula
An Acromantula is a species of giant spider, native to the rainforests of Southeast Asia, particularly Borneo where it inhabits dense jungles. Acromantulas are believed to be a wizard-bred species, designed to guard dwellings or treasure hoards, and were first created before the Ban on Experimental Breeding in 1965. These giant spiders with a taste for human flesh were first spotted in 1794. Physical description Acromantulas sport eight, black eyes (white if blind) and are typically covered in thick black hair, with a leg span that can reach up to fifteen feet. They are the size of a carthorse, if adult. They possess a set of giant chelicerae which they use to eat live prey or their own dead kin. Their pincers produce a clicking sound when they are agitated or excited. They also secrete poison when excited.Harry Potter Bloomsbury Glossary: Acromantula: exact quote: Monstrous eight-eyed, hairy spiders capable of human speech. Carthorse-sized and carnivorous, they have eight legs and sharp pincers. When excited or angry, they make a distinctive clicking sound and secrete poison. They fear Basilisks. They are sentient, and capable of human speech. The fangs contain highly toxic venom, valued at 100 Galleons a pint in 1996 . Reproduction The female is usually larger than the male, and can lay up to one hundred soft, wide, beach ball-sized eggs at a time. They usually hatch in six to eight weeks. Acromantula eggs are a Class A Non-Tradeable Goods. Social Behaviour In contrary to most non-magical spiders, Acromantulas are social animals, who live in large colonies consisting of hundred's of their species. These colonies are led by the oldest male and female of said colonies, who are highly respected and met with absolute obedience. The Acromantula Aragog, for example, was able to keep his entire colony from eating Hagrid, despite their instincts telling them to attack humans, because he respected Hagrid as a friend. Acromantulas are capable of forming emotional attachments to other sentient beings, but only if they are raised well from a very young age. A good example is the friendship between Aragog and Hagrid, with the latter having raised the giant spider from when he was still in his egg. However, this friendship does not automatically extend to people associated with whoever managed to win the respect of an Acromantula nor do other members of a colony automatically treat said person as friend, as they will first and foremost treat humans and other sentient beings like prey. This is demonstrated after Aragog died, the other spiders immediately tried to eat Hagrid, despite him being a good friend to their former leader. Whenever a member of an Acromantula colony dies, his or her corpse will be eaten by the other spiders upon death. This includes the leaders of a colony. It is not known if a dead Acromantula will be mourned by other members of its species so it cannot be said for certain if this is a funeral rite or simply a way to acquire food. The basilisk is the worst enemy of all spiders, including Acromantulas, feared so much that they do not even dare to speak of it, similar to how wizards of Harry Potter's world view Lord Voldemort and use a euphemism in place of his name. It is their greatest threat due to the basilisk's killing gaze and the fact that spiders have many eyes that grant extreme field of view, thus making them highly vulnerable targets. Habitat Acromantulas tend to reside in thick jungles and heavily forested areas, and their webs are large and dome-shaped. Acromantulas in the Wizarding World A colony of Acromantulas was established in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by Aragog and his mate, Mosag. Rubeus Hagrid originally kept a young Aragog in a cupboard box in the school's dungeons. Aragog was released into the Forest by Rubeus Hagrid at about the time of the 1943 opening of the Chamber of Secrets. During the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament in 1995, an Acromantula was positioned close to the Triwizard Cup. Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory joined forces to defeat it. The Forbidden Forest Acromantula colony participated in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, when the Death Eaters drove them out of the Forest, and towards Hogwarts Castle. Rubeus Hagrid was captured by the Death Eaters after he was lost among the swarm in his efforts to protect Aragog's offspring. Etymology The name Acromantula has the Greek ακρος (acros/acro), meaning high or "peak," and -mantula, from the English "tarantula." True to their name, Acromantulas are massive arachnids who tend to spin their expansive webs high in tree tops. Despite the names bearing a phonetic similarity to Tarantulas, they appear more like Wolf Spiders and are, in all depictions, araneomorphae. The eight eyes of the Acromantula are used to symbolise the number eight in the runic alphabet. Behind the scenes *In , Harry Potter used Arania Exumai, a stunning or killing spell for use against spiders, while attempting to escape the Acromantula colony. He learned the spell from Tom Riddle upon visiting the latter's sixteen year old memory in his diary. The spell was never mentioned in the book. *The Acromantulas in the film more closely resemble wolf spiders (family Lycosidae) than actual tarantulas (family Theraphosidae), but that may reflect upon the fact that wolf spiders were the first kind of spider to ever be referred to as "tarantulas". *In , Ron pens an added nine "X"s to the Acromantula's Classification. This is a reference to his fear of spiders. He and Harry also cross out the "unconfirmed" at the end of the sentence "Rumours of an Acromantula colony being established in Scotland are unconfirmed" and replace it with "Confirmed by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." *In the films, Acromantulas have two big eyes, at the height of human eyes, with a line of four small eyes underneath and an eye on each side of the head, human temple height. This is a detail that is not specified in the books. *The spider that Ron faced off in closely resembles a Black widow, with the exception of its size, which may have been the result of his encounter with the much larger sized Acromantulas. *In , riders encounter Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest portion of the the ride. See also *Acromantula venom *Aragog *Arania Exumai *Forbidden Forest Acromantula colony *Mosag Appearances * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the Chamber of Secrets, a door is about to close. You can then see an Acromantula walking towards you before the door is closed. * * * * * * * * * * * Notes and references es:Acromántula fi:Akromantella fr:Acromentule it:Acromantula nl:Acromantula pl:Akromantula ru:Акромантул pt-br:Acromântula Acromantulas Category:Asia Category:Battle of Hogwarts participants Category:Death Eater allies Category:Forbidden Forest Category:Plot to open the Chamber of Secrets participants Category:Runic Number Symbols